Pallet cleaner, including chipping and vibrating means



C. BEALS Nov. 22, 1955 PALLET CLEANER, INCLUDING CHIPPING AND VIBRATING MEANS Filed March 8, 1950 United States Patent Ofiice 2,724,137 Patented Nov. 22, 1955 PALLET CLEANER, INCLUDING CHIPPING AND VIBRATIN G MEANS This invention relates to. pallet cleaners, particularly as usediinjthe manufacture-of cementious products, for example. concrete blocks.

In-a1 concrete block makingmachine, the blocks are molded .upon pallets which are automatically and continuously'fed to the machine, the blocks being removed from thepallets whendry or partly dried to permit re-use of the pallets. ,In passing through the molding machine, the pallets? accumulate concrete drippings which, in drying, form an irregular encrustation interfering with proper molding Of'the; blocks. Accordingly, attempts are ordinarilymade to regularly clean the pallets, this being done by hand chipping or by specially installed machinery.

It isconternplated by this invention to make specific provision for pallet cleaning inconcrete block manufacmm by associating with the. molding machine a pallet cleaning, device through which. the pallets must pass en route to the machine. Accordingly, the pallets are cleaned and .maintained free of encrustations without the need of additional labor: and separate machinery, and in a manner obviating the exercise of discretion by the operator as to when the. pallets are or are not in need of cleaning.

. Theobject of the invention is to simplify the constructionas well as. the means and mode of operation of pallet cleaning devices whereby such devices may not only be economically manufactured, but will be more efficient and. satisfactory in use, adaptable to pallets having varying. degrees of roughness, and having relatively few parts and be unlikely to get out of repair.

Another object of the invention is to reduce to a minimum the cost of operating the cleaning device, it being proposed in this regard to utilize the moving force of pallet conveying means to operate the cleaning device.

A further object of the invention is to provide for alternatively heavy and light duty cleaning through the use of replaceable cutting rolls.

Still another object of the invention is to improve the action of the cutting rolls by introducing vibrational impulses to shake the pallets against the rolls.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pallet cleaning mechanism which may be used with various types of block molding machines.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pallet cleaning mechanism through which pallets of varying thickness may be advanced without injury to the mechanismor impairment of the cleaning operation.

A further objectof the invention is to provide a machine possessing the advantageous structural features, the

inherent meritorious characteristics and the mode of operation herein mentioned.

With the above primary and other incidental objects in view as will more fully appear in the specification, the invention intended to be protected by Letters Patent consists of the features of construction, the parts and combinations thereof, and the mode of operation, as hereinafter described or illustrated. in the accompanying drawings, or their equivalents.

Referring to the: accompanying drawing, wherein is found the preferred but obviously not necessarily the only form of embodimentof the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pallet cleaningdevice in accordancewith the instant invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the cleaning device;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the cleaning device;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the cleaning device;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the cleaningdevice; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views of differently formed cutting rolls with toothed cutting surfaces.

Like parts are indicated bysimilar characters of. referencethroughout the several views.

Referring to the drawing, the device of the invention may comprise, as shown in Fig. 1, a generally rectangular base 11 having secured thereto upstanding spaced apart standards 12 and 13. According to that conception of the invention which contemplates its use as a part of concrete block molding apparatus, the cleaning device is fixed With respect to the molding machine in such way. that the conveyor for carrying pallets to the machine passes between the standards 12 and 13. As shown in Fig. 5, the conveyor ordinarily is made up of chain belts 14 with which-pallets 15 are interlocked.

Supported between the standards 12 and 13, in transverse overlying relation to the conveyor 14, is a shaft 16. The opposite ends of the shaft 16 project through and beyond the standards 12 and 13, being loosely received in vertically elongated slots 17 therein (Fig. 5). The shaft is accordingly capable of. rotary motion relative to its supports and of limited vertical motion.

Each proiecting end of the shaft 16 is received in a bearing block 18. A pair of compression springs 19 are seated on the block 18, the springs bearing at their upper ends on a floating plate 21. Under the influence of the springs 19' the plate 21 presses against the inner ends of a pair of bolts 22 having a screw threaded mounting ina plate 23 secured to the top of a standard 12 and 13. There is an assembly comprising a bearing block 18, springs 19, plate 21, bolts 22 and plate 23 for each end of the shaft 16. Being compressed between the block 18 and the plate 21, the springs 19 tend to maintain the shaft 16 in the bottoms of the slots: 17. A greater or lesser downward pressure upon the shafts is obtained by adjustment of the bolts 22 to increase or reduce the compression of the springs 19.

Freely supported on the shaft 16 between the support standards 12 and 13 is a series of cleaning rolls 24 having roughened surfaces to chip, scrape or grind hardened concrete from the pallets 15. The rolls 24 are arranged in end to end abutting relation to form in effect a single roll.

Also supported. between the standards 12 and 13, in underlying relation to the conveyor 14 is a shaft 25. Fixed to the shaft 25, between the standards 12 and 13, is a series of pressure rolls 26. The rolls 26 occupy longitudinally spaced positions along the shaft 25 and beneath the cleaning rolls 24, the peripheries of the rolls 24 and 26 being separated by a space corresponding to or slightly less than the thickness of the pallets 15.

The conveyor chains 14 are arranged to bring the pallots to the space between the cleaning rolls and the pressure rolls and to pull them through such space. The

rolls 24 will be frictionally driven by reason of their reciprocation of the piston.

continuous transverse engagement of the rolls 24 with the surface of the pallet despite unevenness in such surface.

Secured to the base 11 is a pair of upstanding posts 27 offset from the vertical plane of the shafts 16 and 25 in a direction toward the front of the device or that end at which the pallets enter. The tops of the posts 27 lie in a horizontal plane approximately coincident with that in which the tops of the rolls 26 lie. They accordingly provide a further support for the pallets 15 and guide them into place between the rolls 24 and 26. The upper end of each post 27 is bifurcated for the pivotal mounting thereon of one end of an arm 28. The pair of arms 28 extends in transverse underlying relation to the rolls 24 and at their opposite ends rest on pistons 29 forming part of pneumatic cylinder units 31. The cylinder units 31 are mounted on the base 11 and are of a commercially available type embodying in a unitary structure a piston, a cylinder and a pressure fluid operated valve for so controlling the flow of compressed air into the cylinder as to effect Ordinarily, the action of such valve may be regulated to vary the speed or frequency of motion of the piston. In the present instance compressed air is admitted to the cylinders 31 by way of hose connectors 32 and the valve adjustment is such as to effect a rapid reciprocation of the pistons 29. Accordingly, the arms 28 are oscillated about the posts 27 in quick vibratory movements. Being in underlying relation to the rolls 24, and to the pallets 15 during their passage through the device, the vibratory impulses imparted to the arms 28 are transmitted thereby to the pallets which are thus vibrated against the rolls 24. The cleaning action of the rolls is in this manner supplemented and improved, while the shaking of the pallets further serves to remove loose, cut material therefrom. The shock of the vibratory impulses is sustained by the springs 19 which yield slightly under the blows from the cylinders 31, avoiding wear and destruction of the parts. The operation of the cylinders may, of course, be carried out alternatively. With heavily encrusted pallets, the cylinders will be in continuous operation. With relatively clean pallet-s, the supplemental vibratory effect may be dispensed with.

The rolls 24 are manufactured as cutters, and may be made with a varying hardened tooth formation. In the operation of the device, the relatively heavy spring pressure provided by the springs 19 causes the cutters to bite into the concrete crustations as the pallet is fed into the machine, supported on rolls 26 and arms 28.

According to a feature of the invention, different sets of rolls having a distinctive toothed formation may be mounted on the shaft 16 for different classes of cleaning work. Thus serrated rolls may be used for heavy cleaning, spirally grooved rolls for maintenance and even cleaning, and flat toothed rolls for preventing damage and keeping the pallets in good condition after cleaning. These rolls may be intermixed in one operation if indicated by the condition of the pallets. Also, in the event a run of pallets requires cleaning only in certain high spots, cutting rolls may be mounted on the shaft 16 where needed and the remaining cutter area filled out with blank collars.

In Figs. 6 and 7, two different types of cutting rolls 24a and 24b, are illustrated.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thus provided a device of the character described possessing the particular features of advantage before enumerated as desirable, but which obviously is susceptible of modification in its form, proportions, detail construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the principle involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

While in order to comply with the statutes the invention has been described in language more or less specific as to structural features, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific features shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosed comprise but one of several modes of putting the invention into effect.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. A pallet cleaner or like device, including a base, spaced apart standards mounted on said base, a shaft supported between said standards for rotary and limited vertical motions relative thereto, chipping rolls mounted on said shaft, arms in transverse relation to and underlying said chipping rolls, the pallet being received and fed between said chipping rolls and said arms, means for feeding said pallets therebetween, and means for vibrating the pallet against said rolls by rapid motions of said arms toward and from said rolls.

2. A pallet cleaner or like device, including a base, spaced apart standards mounted on said base, a shaft supported between said standards for rotary and limited vertical motions relative thereto, spring means acting'on the shaft to control vertical movements thereof, chipping rolls mounted on said shaft, pressure rolls underlying said chipping rolls, the pallets being received and fed between said chipping rolls and said pressure rolls, means for feeding the pallet through the cleaner, arms occupying positions between said pressure rolls beneath said chipping rolls, and means for imparting vibratory impulses to said arms to vibrate the pallet against said chipping rolls, said vibratory impulses being absorved by said spring means.

3. A pallet cleaner or like device according to claim 2, characterized in that said last named means includes pneumatic cylinders mounted on said base and extending upward into cooperative engagement with said arms.

4. A pallet cleaner or like device, including means for supporting a chipping roll for rotary and limited reciprocatory motion, means for passing a pallet in frictional contact with said chipping roll, vibratory means including arms in underlying transverse relation to said chipping roll for vibrating the pallet against said chipping roll, and yielding means acting on said chipping roll to absorb the vibratory impulses.

5. A pallet cleaner or like device, including chipping means in the form of a rotatable chipping roll, means to advance a pallet in underlying frictional contact with said roll, movable supports beneath said roll to engage and guide the pallets, and means for imparting vibratory impulses to said supports to vibrate the pallet against said chipping roll.

6. A pallet cleaner or like device including a base, spaced apart standards on said base, first and second vertically spaced apart shafts supported by said standards for rotary motion, a series of cleaning rolls mounted on said first shaft having roughened peripheral surfaces, a series of pressure rolls mounted onsaid second shaft, said cleaning rolls and said pressure rolls being spaced apart for common frictional contact with a pallet to be passed therebetween, a guide arm extending in transverse underlying relation to said cleaning rolls for frictional contact with the pallet, and means for imparting vibratory impulses to said arm to vibrate the pallet against said cleaning rolls.

7. A pallet cleaner or like device, including a base, spaced apart standards on said base, a shaft supported between said standards for rotary motion and for lim-- ited vertical sliding motion, resilient means restraining.

said shaft against such sliding motion, oneormore roughened cleaning rolls on said shaft between said standards, a second shaft supported between said standards for rotary motion, one or more pressure rolls on said second shaft, said pressure rolls and said cleaning rolls being arranged to frictionally engage opposite sides of a pallet passed therebetween, one or more upstanding posts on said base, an arm pivotally connected at its oneend to each of said posts and extending in transverse underlying relation to said cleaning rolls alongside said pres- References Cited in the file of this patent sure rolls, and a pneumatic vibratory cylinder associated with each of said arms, said cylinders being mounted on UNITED STATES PATENTS said base to support the opposite ends of said arms and 126,390 Hall May 7, 1872 to impart vibratory impulses to said arms to vibrate the 5 1,550,221 Nelson Aug. 18, 1925 pallet against the cleaning rolls, said impulses being ab- 2,044,561 Bidle June 16, 1936 sorbed by said resilient means. 2,522,769 Anderson Sept. 19, 1950 8. A pallet cleaner or like device, including separate sets of rolls, the rolls of at least one of said sets being FOREIGN PATENTS roughened for cleaning or chipping, means for advancing 10 107,491 Great Britain M July 5, 1917 a pallet to be cleaned between said sets of rolls, and 511,678 Germany 1, 1930 means other than said rolls for vibrating the pallet against the roughened rolls during its passage between said sets of rolls. 

